Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and a TWU local file for federal mediation

Southwest Airlines Co. and a union local representing about 8,500 employees have filed for federal mediation after contract talks stalled.

After 14 months of negotiations, the Transport Workers Union said Wednesday that little progress has been made in reaching a contract agreement. TWU Local 555 represents ramp, operations, provisioning and freight agents at Dallas-based Southwest.

A Southwest spokesman said progress has been made on some issues.

Both sides said they asked the National Mediation Board late last week to help under the federal Railway Labor Act.

“This development in our contract negotiations is very disappointing,” TWU Local 555 president Charles Cerf said in a written statement. “Despite the highest second-quarter profit in the history of Southwest Airlines, Southwest has proposed changes in our collective bargaining agreement, which is concessionary in nature and entirely unacceptable to our members.”

Southwest spokesman Paul Flaningan declined to discuss specifics of the carrier’s negotiations with the union local.

“We look forward to working with a mediator to achieve a contract that is acceptable to everyone,” he said. “This is just another step in the negotiating process.”

No negotiations are scheduled. The National Mediation Board must designate a federal mediator, who will start working with both parties to set bargaining dates.

In their last labor negotiations, Southwest and the TWU reached a contract agreement in mediation in 2009.

This time, “it appears that Southwest may be attempting to use other airlines’ bankruptcies to bolster their need to lower costs and squeeze frontline employees,” Cerf said. “TWU Local 555 members contribute significantly to the success of Southwest Airlines, and this new approach to labor is appalling to many career employees.”

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